The Beauty Spot: Head stylist Terese Tomlins reveals the beauty secrets of The Bachelor

The Beauty Spot is Zoe Scheltema’s weekly column that dissects the world of beauty and fashion. This week she interviews Terese Tomlin, head stylist and make up artist on The Bachelor NZ.

Arguably, there is no more glamorous television event than that of The Bachelor, and it has careered back to our screens trailing thirty thousand sequins in it’s wake.

It’s an opportunity for the select few to don their glad rags, whether they’re used to it (cue resort model Claudia) or would rather be spending time with their twenty animals (put that pony in a dress ASAP). It’s also our opportunity at home to sit back and rack our brains for an occasion in which we would wear such beautiful dresses.

I had a chat with head makeup artist/hair stylist/wardrobe/jack of all trades, Terese Tomlins, about styling these women on their journey to forever love.

Working on the set of The Bachelor, seems like some hard yakka. Terese says that prep is tough work and the stylists work long shifts.

“Cocktail parties can take up to 15 hours to pull together.” “The girls go through hair, makeup, wardrobe and then on to a fabulous location.”

Obviously there is a lot to take into consideration when filming for TV – especially at night, when the sun sets and only romance awaits.

“The key things we need to take into consideration are making the looks as cohesive as possible, and making the girls as matte as possible because we can’t have shine! Also, false lashes!”

The most challenging aspect of working on The Bachelor, according to Terese, is those pesky HD cameras. The humid summer of 2016 – which we will all be talking about well into the next millenium – meant flyaways were rife and those cameras pick up everything.

The time constraints also make for a challenge, the girls need to look “on point” and they don’t have hours to do so.

“You always want more time but we have a limited time to get them all looking great.”

Personally, I’ve always wondered how much of the looks are influenced by the girls themselves. I mean Jordan could be mightily disappointed to find that the girl of his dreams doesn’t actually dress like a princess, but that they’re more of a grey trackpants kind of gal.

“The looks are very collaborative. We usually pull dresses for them and talk to the girls about what they like and dislike, then they try them on. Some girls have ideas for hair and makeup and we really like to work together to make sure that they’re comfortable, whilst still meeting the brief of the show.”

“We also pick, and you’ll notice this throughout the show, different colour palettes for the episodes.”

So what about the ones who come onto the show and don’t like wearing makeup, or aren’t used to it?

“There have been a couple of girls who aren’t as used to wearing a lot of makeup but we’ve always found that as the show progresses, they get into it more and more, and by the end they’re totally loving it.”

Terese says she’s really excited for everyone to see all the gowns on the show (all from Glamour Boutique), but that The Bachelor (dressed by Working Style) himself also has some really cool outfits.

“I think people will be just as impressed with what he’s wearing!”.

Of course the same goes for host, Mike Puru.

With all eyes on the lookout for Jordan’s upcoming fashion moments, we wait to see what the future holds for the girls.

Who will become the next love of Jordan’s life, who will wear the sparkliest gown, and who will get their lipstick smudged the most?

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